An Effective Radius Retrieval for Thick Ice Clouds Using GOES

Satellite retrieval of cirrus cloud microphysical properties is an important but difficult problem because of uncertainties in ice-scattering characteristics. Most methods have been developed for instruments aboard polar-orbiting satellites, which have better spatial and spectral resolution than geo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of applied meteorology (1988) 2008-04, Vol.47 (4), p.1222-1231
Main Authors: Lindsey, Daniel T., Grasso, Louie
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Algorithms
Cirrus clouds
Cloud physics
Clouds
Crystals
Earth, ocean, space
Evolution
Exact sciences and technology
External geophysics
Geophysics. Techniques, methods, instrumentation and models
Ice clouds
Ice thickness
Infrared
Meteorology
Optical reflection
Optical thickness
Pixels
Reflectance
Retrieval
Satellites
Sensitivity analysis
Signal reflection
Temporal resolution
Zenith
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Summary:Satellite retrieval of cirrus cloud microphysical properties is an important but difficult problem because of uncertainties in ice-scattering characteristics. Most methods have been developed for instruments aboard polar-orbiting satellites, which have better spatial and spectral resolution than geostationary sensors. The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) series has the advantage of excellent temporal resolution, so that the evolution of thunderstorm-cloud-top properties can be monitored. In this paper, the authors discuss the development of a simple ice cloud effective radius retrieval for thick ice clouds using three bands from the GOES imager: one each in the visible, shortwave infrared, and window infrared portion of the spectrum. It is shown that this retrieval compares favorably to the MODIS effective radius algorithm. In addition, a comparison of the retrieval for clouds viewed simultaneously from GOES-East and GOES-West reveals that the assumed ice-scattering properties perform very well. The algorithm is then used to produce maps of mean ice cloud effective radius over the continental United States. A real-time version of this retrieval is currently running and may be used to study the evolution of thunderstorm-top ice crystal size in rapidly evolving convection.
ISSN:1558-8424
0894-8763
1558-8432
1520-0450
DOI:10.1175/2007JAMC1612.1